News By Amir Matthews

1. HoodAnchorYe Title: Community Crime Reporter/ Urban News Influencer  Email: Hoodanchorye@gmail.com Social Media Account: @hoodanchorye on Instagram and TikTok 2. Josh Morgan  Title: News Director at KCTV5 Email: no email was found but here is his LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-morgan-03b87b63/ Social Media Account: @JoshMorganNews on X/Twitter 3. Alexis Stevens  Title: Member of the Crime and Public Safety Team at Atlanta Journal Constitution Email: Alexis.stevens@ajc.com Social Media Account: @alexisnews on X/Twitter

I took notes on a conversation I overheard about a recent shooting that happened at a children party in Stockton California the notes I took were that 19 victims were injured, 4 dead as of now and they all are children. The shooting happened at a 2 year old child birthday party. I feel like this pertains to my beat because it has to do with the public safety and how a community can affect the people around them. 

   https://x.com/AmironSafety/status/1995202644227563836?s=20

 I tried commenting but they all got deleted for some reason.

Today I talked with my Politics and Global Issues Professor  and he gave me a couple good insights on my beat. The first thing is that public safety is more than just policing it also includes environmental factors and community mental health issues. The second thing was to use multiple sources and not just law enforcement. The last thing that I felt very important is what does my story add to the conversation.

  https://www.ajc.com/sports/2025/11/georgia-dismisses-ol-nyier-daniels-from-the-program-after-arrest/ This article is about Nyier Daniels who is a freshman football player at the University of Georgia who was arrested on 13 charges three were felonies  one from fleeing from an officer two counts of second degree child cruelty. This connects to my topic because as I am doing my topic on public safety in different communities this article relates to that because reckless driving is a major public safety threat and with this happening in the Georgia area it really affects what my topic is about.

Name: Detria Towns  Title: CAU Public Safety Officer  Email: Dtowns@cau.edu Mrs.Towns is a possible source for my beat because as a public safety officers she is always ready to help students no matter what. I talk with her every time I see her at one of the booths so if I ever need a source for one of my stories I know she will be down to speak on whatever I am writing about for my story. 

 

 I asked an upperclassman Journalism student for beat reporting tips listed below are the tips they gave me. 1.Be quick but accurate  This is because we want to be quick to be the first story out but never forgot to make sure everything is accurate before it goes out. 2.Build relationships and not just sources It is better to build relationships instead of just sources because if you build a good enough relationship with someone you might just hear about a story idea way before other reporters. 3.Use social media as a signal not just a source  Using social media as a signal and not just a source is good because a lot of time people post about incidents before we get an alert to our phone but before we use it as a source we must first verify it. 

The press release I found is from the Atlanta Police Department ( https://www.atlantapd.org/Home/Components/News/News/7035/71 ) about an arrest update from a fatal pedestrian accident. This is a public safety beat story because it is about a fatal pedestrian crash that had resulted in a arrest that ultimately raises questions about roadway safety and each of theses questions are issues that affect the community who commute to their destinations. 

 1.Clark Atlanta University Collegiate Chapter of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (CAUNoble) Media Contact: @caunoble on Instagram 2. Think Safe Ambassadors  Media Contact: @cau_thinksafeambassadors on Instagram 3.  Law Enforcement Executives & Administrators (HBCU LEEA) Media Contact: @hbculeea on Instagram  The story idea that I have that could use theses three orgs is "Building a safer AUC: how students, police leaders and national HBCU orgs are changing and shaping the future of campus safety" 

 I found three historic and local dates related to my beat the first one is from November 2021 when a Morehouse was shot and killed inside a home just a month away from his graduation. The second one is from 2015 when the AUC added 40 new surveillance cameras to its four campus. The third one is from August of 2019 where there was a shooting that occurred right outside the library. 

I went to one of the public safety booth and as I was there I noticed many things. A lot of students walk passed theses booth with not a slight care in the world or when they see a public safety officer they say something about them then walk off. It is not until our public safety officers start asking to see peoples school id cards to make sure they are students when a lot of people start to complain how they should know them by now when in reality they officers are just trying to make sure everyone is safe so no outsiders get behind the gates and potentially harm someone. A possible story idea could be why do students feel like it is not necessary to show their paw cards when asked to by public safety.

 1.  https://33n.atlantaregional.com/data-diversions/through-the-roof-or-through-the-floor-violent-crime-in-atlanta-2024-edition 2024 reached a new historic low of 50.3 incidents per 10,000 population  2.  https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/atlanta-sees-overall-crime-drop-2025-homicides-drop-16 Significant overall drop in city wide crime with an 18% decrease compared to the same period in 2024  3.  https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2025/01/14/2024-crime-trends In 2024 the 911 answer call time dropped from 24.3 to 12.5 seconds nearly a 50% improvement I would use these stats to write a story on how with the crime rates dropping and police call time getting faster what does that mean for the safety of students on the different campuses. 

I interviewed Sophomore student Corionna Sindad a Psychology major. She had an interesting perspective on the beat talking about how public safety should get more recognition because a lot of the time they are the first responders to some of these dangerous events that happen or could happen on campus before the police get there and a lot of people still talk bad about them. She had a lot to say about public safety and what she sees on campus. This perspective gave me a lot of different story ideas for my beat.